1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to data processing systems and, in particular, to an improved handheld merchandise scanner device. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved handheld merchandise scanner device capable of accessing a product tag and determining a current status of a security tag included within the product tag.
2. Description of the Related Art
Large retail stores frequently have many checkout lanes in order to be able to handle higher customer throughput at peak periods. Such lanes tend to be crowded together as much as possible in an attempt to minimize the square footage required for the checkout function. Additionally, many of these lanes remain idle during a considerable portion of any given business day and waste the square footage allocated to them.
A modern retail or grocery store checkout lane typically includes a cash register that is used to check out merchandise items bearing bar code labels. A cashier removes items from a movable conveyor belt one at a time, drags them across the laser beam of a fixed scanner (e.g., a xe2x80x9cslotxe2x80x9d scanner built into a horizontal counter), and places them on a shopping carrier, such as a cart.
Store products, or items, include a bar code which uniquely identifies the product. The bar code may be scanned by a fixed scanner which is linked with a processor, e.g., a CPU built into the cash register, that translates the bar code symbol on a product into a cash register entry including the price of the scanned item. The product includes no indication regarding whether or not it has been purchased. Therefore, store personnel are unable to distinguish the purchased items from those which have not been purchased.
In one known system, security tags are included on a product in close proximity to the product""s bar code. The security tag is deactivated when the bar code is scanned in order to indicate that the product has been purchased. A security station exists for systems such as this, typically at the front of the store, where store personnel may determine whether or not a product has a deactivated security tag.
A problem arises, however, when a customer wishes to determine the price, weight, or other product information associated with the product by scanning the product""s bar code without purchasing the product. In order for the customer to determine the product information, the bar code, along with the security tag, must be scanned, thus deactivating the security tag resulting in the purchase of the product by the customer.
Store personnel are unable to determine whether a product has a deactivated security tag by visually inspecting the product. Therefore, when store personnel wish to determine whether a product has a deactivated security tag, they must take the product to a security station. Store personnel are unable to determine whether a product has an activated security tag while they are located remotely in the store.
Therefore, a need exists for a handheld scanner capable of scanning a product tag which includes a security tag without deactivating the security tag.
An improved handheld merchandise scanning device and method are disclosed. A first and second mode are enabled in the scanning device for scanning a product tag which includes product information and a security tag. The product tag is scanned utilizing the scanning device in the first mode to obtain the product information without deactivating the security tag. The product tag is scanned utilizing the scanning device in the second mode to concurrently obtain the product information and deactivate the security tag.
The above as well as additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.